Letter: The unanswered questions about PAYT

Saturday

Jul 5, 2014 at 9:00 AM

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an open letter to WasteZero.

Congratulations on your new contract with the city of Fall River! As a city resident, I am already way ahead of the game since I have the advantage of not having any children or being low income. It's a good thing that no one sees this metered utility as a regressive tax.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an open letter to WasteZero.

Congratulations on your new contract with the city of Fall River! As a city resident, I am already way ahead of the game since I have the advantage of not having any children or being low income. It’s a good thing that no one sees this metered utility as a regressive tax.

I am impressed by your clever business model. It’s so simple! You produce garbage bags, and city residents buy them. (It’s a good thing that the city hasn’t thought of selling their own bags. Think of the money they’d make off of your idea. I’m amazed that selling trash bags can be called proprietary. Brilliant!)

As I anticipate WasteZero’s integration into Fall River’s waste management program, I’ve been visiting your website. Unfortunately, a couple of items aren’t addressed on your FAQ page, and I was hoping that you would be able to update your FAQ page to address these issues.

First, while not ubiquitous, it’s not entirely uncommon for city residents to sweep the street in front of their driveways. Like most cities, Fall River has a fair amount of vagrant litter, from cigarette butts to gravel from deteriorating streets. How will WasteZero’s program encourage city residents to keep their neighborhood clean?

Second, I completely understand how this program will reduce waste, but I can’t imagine that residents will use your bags for their in-house trash cans. The standard kitchen model trash can is 13 gallons, but your bags are larger than that. Should I assume that I will continue to buy plastic bags to then put into your plastic bags? That’s a lot of plastic to be introduced to our environment! Under our current system, it’s possible to throw out trash without packaging it in plastic. Please clarify this important environmental detail.

Finally, and please forgive my ignorance, I’m not entirely sure that each 33 gallon bag of trash contains the same amount of trash. As a matter of volume, 33 gallons is 33 gallons. But as a matter of weight, 33 gallons of rocks is, for instance, heavier than 33 gallons of dirty diapers and pizza boxes. How does WasteZero’s program with Fall River address the issue of volume versus weight?

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to these questions. I wish you great success in your trash bag selling business.